When you ’re tuck into a tasty piece of battered Pisces and admiring a peaceful ocean view the threat of being mug invariably surrounds you . fly thieves could descend from the skies at any moment , tearing your toothsome meal from your lap . But now , gratefully , we have a scientifically proven fashion of harness the problem nous - on : stare the gulls down .

Concerned by the impact these fledge twist are having on innocent mass ’s day to daylight lives , researchers at the University of Exeter in the UK took it upon themselves to find a solution . Equipped with nothing more than a bag of fries , they headed to the Cornish seaboard to direct a scientific experimentation .

The team hear to include 74 participant , but the bulk flew aside or refused to go up the shaver . However , 19 herringgullswere willing to get necessitate in the two - part experiment .

First , a research worker would post a bag of Fry on the ground and crouch down behind it , looking away . Next the same would occur except the investigator would look the gull right in its spangled eyes , set about to carry her earth . you’re able to see the two stipulation in the video below .

The researchers discovered that , on medium , the gulls necessitate 21 seconds longer to set about the fries when they were being watch while some would n’t even annoy trying to snaffle the intellectual nourishment . Still , a few smart birds did go for the fries even when being stared down .

“ Most took longer when they were being watch . Some would n’t even bear upon the food for thought at all , although others did n’t seem to acknowledge that a human was star at them,”saidMadeleine Goumas , lead author of the study published inBiology Letters .

" We did n’t examine why individual gulls were so unlike – it might be because of differences in ‘ personality ’ and some might have had positivistic experiences of being fertilise by homo in the past times . "

It seems   that most gulls are in reality too shy to approach humans , but a minority of peculiarly brazen snort has sullied their report . Looking these ringleaders dead in the eye will hopefully make them warier and allow you to enjoy your Pisces and buffalo chip in peace of mind .

“ We … notify people to look around themselves and watch out for sucker approaching , as they often come along to take food from behind , catching the great unwashed by surprise,”saidsenior source Dr Neeltje Boogert .

" It seems that just watch the gulls will cut back the hazard of them snatching your food for thought . "

chump should really be feed on Pisces and invertebrates , so the squad now go for to find out whether a high - fatness diet of salty , fried snacks affects the birds ’ wellness . Perhaps our penchant for firm nutrient is changing the course of their evolution , as   it has forNYC ’s pizza pie - loving mice .